


Snakes Among Flowers Do Creep

by AnnaTheHank



Series: Three's a Crowd but Five's a Family [2]
Category: Good Omens (TV)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Art, Hurt/Comfort, Idk what I did wrong bois, M/M, Multi, being mean to every single person in the lil family, but here i am, snake transformation, there's art!!!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-14
Updated: 2020-01-14
Packaged: 2021-02-27 15:21:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,876
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22259386
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnnaTheHank/pseuds/AnnaTheHank
Summary: Oscar is a demon, as it turns out.Nobody has a good time with this information.
Relationships: Aziraphale/Crowley/Gabriel (Good Omens)
Series: Three's a Crowd but Five's a Family [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1576834
Comments: 14
Kudos: 42





	1. sad story

**Author's Note:**

> I"M GONNA DIE  
> I can't believe I was so mean I'm sorry I don't know what came over me.  
> I want to hug everyone
> 
> ALSO!!! once your're done dying via the pain  
> there's some cute ass art in ch.2 <3 <3 <3
> 
> Thank you all for indulging me in my weird threesome family obsession. you are the real mvps  
> Since everything is out of order, the twins are almost nine in this

As soon as Gabriel got Crowley’s message, he was back home. It didn’t even matter that he was in the middle of a meeting (one he was supposed to be leading). Messages from Aziraphale and Crowley had top priority, and Crowley’s message had been concerning, to say the least.

Crowley was in the living room, tossing a couch cushion over his shoulder. The house truly looked like a storm had gone through; drawers open, pillows and cushions tossed about, doors hanging open on cabinets.

“What’s wrong?” Gabriel asked, his nerves already on high alert.

Crowley stood up, his face tinged red and his eyes wide. “I can’t find him,” he said.

“Find who?” Gabriel made a quick check of his list of A.J.’s and Oscar’s favorite toys, but they didn’t seem likely to get lost.

“Oscar,” Crowley hissed. 

Every aspect of Gabriel’s being went into panic mode, and he could feel it gripping at him like a vice. “What?”

Crowley sighed and ran a hand through his hair, strands of it sticking straight up after the motion. “Aziraphale took A.J. out shopping early and when I went to go check on Oscar he wasn’t in the playroom. And so I started checking everywhere.” He practically stumbled over to Gabriel, grabbing his arms and shaking. “I’ve checked everywhere, Gabriel, I can’t find him.”

The panic and fear in Crowley’s voice seemed to ease Gabriel’s own fears. He couldn’t be allowed to panic because he had to be strong for Crowley, who seemed to be panicking enough for the both of them. He grabbed Crowley’s arms back and gave them a little squeeze.

“It’s alright,” he told him. “Maybe Aziraphale just took both of them and forgot to mention it.”

Crowley shook his head. “No. No I saw them leave, just the two of them.”

“He hasn’t just disappeared,” Gabriel assured him. “I’m sure he’s around here somewhere.”

“Where!? I’ve checked the whole house!”

“Have you checked outside the house?” Gabriel asked.

Crowley looked at him, seemed to curse himself, then immediately ran for the door. Gabriel took a deep, steadying breath, and followed him out. Crowley was running back around to the front from the back yard. “He's not out here!”

Gabriel sighed and tried to think clearly, which was hard with the panic edging its way back in. Thankfully (or dreadfully, really) Aziraphale and A.J. were seen rounding the corner home.

“Father!” A.J. shouted. 

She raced ahead of Aziraphale, running up to him. Gabriel forced a smile on his face and knelt down to hug her. 

“I missed you,” she said as he stood up, taking her with him. 

“I’ve missed you, too,” he told her. 

A.J. looked over to Crowley, who was bouncing on his toes and looking around at the yard. “What’s wrong with Pops?”

Gabriel wasn’t really sure what he should tell her and thankfully he didn’t have time to respond before Aziraphale had caught up to them. He was carrying two bags and wearing a wide smile. “Hello, dear. Wasn’t expecting you today.”

“Yes, well…” Gabriel gestured to Crowley, who was pulling at his hair again. “There’s a problem.”

“What’s wrong?” Aziraphale’s grip tightened on the bags. He looked around. “Where’s Oscar?”

Crowley’s body stilled. He was looking at a point a bit away in the yard. “No, no, no, no, no,” he said, racing towards it.

“He’s lost it,” A.J. whispered. 

Crowley dropped to the ground and Aziraphale and Gabriel went after him. He was picking something up, whispering something as he gathered it up in his hands. It was a snake. A black snake with a red underbelly. Crowley sat back, legs crossed, holding the snake close.

“Oh dear,” Aziraphale whispered.

“Cool snake,” A.J. said. “Can we keep him?”

Aziraphale shifted from foot to foot, watching Crowley whisper to the snake. “Why don’t you help me put the shopping away, A.J.,” he suggested.

“But I wanna play with the snake,” she whined.

“You can play with him later.”

Gabriel set A.J. down and she took one of the bags from Aziraphale, carrying it off to the house. Aziraphale gave Gabriel a look and then followed after her. 

Gabriel knelt down next to Crowley, watching him intently. He was gently rubbing over the scales of the snake, whispering softly to it. “I know,” he said. “It’s hard. But it’s okay, you can do this. Just remember what it’s like. You can go back, it’s okay.”

Little by little the snake started to shift, growing taller and wider, scales peeling away and revealing skin and cloth. Gabriel watched with amazement as the snake morphed in Crowley’s arms until Oscar was there, clutching at Crowley’s shirt, face buried in his neck.

“There you are,” Crowley whispered. He hugged Oscar tight, hand running up and down his back in a soothing motion. “I’m so proud of you.”

Oscar sniffed and turned his head. Silent tears were falling down his cheeks. Gabriel felt every inch of his soul crack apart and fall away. He reached out, gently wiping away what tears he could but more just kept coming. 

“I’m sorry,” Crowley whispered. “I’m so sorry.”

There wasn’t anything that Gabriel could think to say. He just shuffled forward on his knees and wrapped his arms around them both. Crowley leaned into the touch and repeated his apology, this time to Gabriel. There would be time for him to freak out about Oscar being a demon later. For right now two of the most important people in his life were crying and he had to fix it. 

Crowley sniffed and rubbed at his eyes before gently pushing Gabriel away. He got to his feet, holding Oscar close. Gabriel got up after him, but Crowley avoided saying anything or even looking at him as they walked back inside. 

A.J. and Aziraphale had most of the groceries put away when they arrived, and A.J. rushed up to them, frowning as she looked them over. “Where’s the snake?”

Crowley said nothing, moving to the couch with Oscar. A.J. frowned deeper and looked to Gabriel for an answer. And he wasn’t really sure what to say.

“Why don’t you and Gabriel go look for him outside?” Aziraphale suggested, casting a worried glance at Crowley and Oscar.

“But-” A.J. started.

“I’m sure he’s out there somewhere,” Aziraphale assured her, practically pushing them both out the door.

A.J. huffed and kicked a rock, sending it bouncing down the path to the street. “Nobody tells me anything,” she mumbled, hands shoved deep in her pockets. “Put the groceries away, go look for a snake,” she added in a mocking tone as she walked out into the yard. She spun around and looked up at Gabriel, moving her hands to her hips. “I’m old enough to know things!”

Gabriel agreed. The twins were almost nine now. It amazed him how fast the time seemed to go by. He figured it was about time they developed, as it were. He sat down on the steps leading to the porch and patted the spot next to him. A.J. slumped over and sat with him.

“Oscar was the snake,” Gabriel told her. 

“He can turn into a snake? That is so cool!” A.J. bounced in her seat and smiled.

“No,” Gabriel corrected her. “It’s not cool.”

She settled down with a slight frown. “Why not?”

“Because that means that Oscar is a demon, like Crowley.”

“So?” A.J. looked up at him. “Being a demon is cool.”

“It is not,” Gabriel told her. He might have yelled it but he wouldn’t admit that. He wasn’t supposed to yell at the children, as Aziraphale had told him. But even though he certainly didn’t yell, A.J. shrank back a bit.

“I think pops is cool,” she mumbled looking down at her feet.

“Crowley is…” Gabriel sighed, unsure how he should finish that line of thought. Crowley was a demon, which was inherently bad. But he was also over all good. Or so Gabriel thought. He certainly wasn’t evil, anyway. And he loved him. But he was still a demon. “It’s just better to be an angel,” he decided on. “You should want to be an angel.”

“Can angels turn into snakes?” A.J. asked, perking up a bit.

“No,” Gabriel said. A.J. frowned again. “But we do have our angelic forms, which are better than snakes.”

A.J. gave him a suspicious look. Gabriel tried to imagine what she would look like, if she did end up being an angel. Which he hoped. Or human, even, would be better than demon. But he figured she might not be okay with that.

“I still think snakes are cool,” A.J. muttered.

“Trust me,” Gabriel assured her. “Being an angel is infinitely better. Being human is still better.”

A.J. just nodded and neither of them had time to really say anything before Aziraphale was coming back outside. “How is everything out here?” he asked, looking down at them with a smile. Aziraphale had two smiles, and he was currently using his pretend happy smile.

“It’s okay,” A.J. said. 

“Did you find the snake?” Aziraphale asked, which Gabriel thought was redundant because he knew the snake was inside, probably sitting with Crowley.

A.J. took a deep sigh and got up. “No,” she said as she slumped into the house.

Aziraphale looked to Gabriel but he just shrugged. A.J. was probably just still upset that Oscar had developed before her. But Gabriel had high hopes and he figured that when she turned out to be an angel in a few days she would be okay. After all, being an angel was better than being a demon.

Gabriel got up and they followed A.J. inside. Crowley was still on the couch, holding Oscar in his lap and hugging him close. A.J. shuffled over to the steps, feet dragging across the ground. Each step up was taken heavily.

“Where are you off to?” Aziraphale asked, standing behind the couch and fretting over his fingers. 

“I’m just gonna go play I guess,” A.J. answered.

Aziraphale shared a look with Gabriel and then Crowley. “I’ll go see what’s wrong,” he declared, chasing after her.

-

A.J. had not been in the playroom, as Aziraphale suspected. She was in the bedroom, sitting on her bed against the wall, legs pulled up and hugged close to her chest, chin resting on her knees. Aziraphale sat down on the edge of the bed with an encouraging and soft smile.

“What’s the matter?” he asked. 

A.J. shook her head and looked away. She really was Crowley’s daughter. Gabriel’s too. Sometimes Aziraphale found it a wonder he got anyone in this house to talk about anything. Oscar truly was his saving grace.

“Are you upset about not finding the snake?” Aziraphale asked. He could explain that easily, and perhaps they could open conversation about getting a proper pet snake.

A.J. shook her head again. “No. I know the snake was Oscar.”

Aziraphale nodded. He shuffled over, placing a hand on A.J.’s leg. “Are you worried about him?”

“No,” A.J. mumbled. She hugged her legs closer, eyes closing.

Aziraphale hummed and thought about what else could have happened that day to upset her. “Are you upset that Oscar has developed his power before you?”

A.J. groaned. “No!” She buried her head in her lap. 

“I wouldn’t have to guess if you just told me what was bothering you,” Aziraphale said. “Or the event the preceded it so I could help you figure it out.”

A.J. was quiet for a moment, but Aziraphale has come to learn that letting his family have a moment to themselves was a vital part of the process. 

“Did Oscar choose to be a demon?” A.J. asked, her voice muffled by her legs.

Aziraphale gave her leg a little rub. “No, dear. I don’t suppose he did. It’s all genetics. You both have an equal chance of being either.”

A.J.’s shoulders slumped down even further. “So I could be a demon, too?”

Aziraphale moved even closer, itching to just gather A.J. up in his arms and cuddle her. But they were both growing up now and that was a task less easily accomplished without their assistance. “If you are a demon,” he assured her, “nothing will change. You’ll still be you.”

“But I don’t want father to hate me.”

Aziraphale sat up a bit, surprised at that leap in judgement. “Gabriel could ever hate you. He loves you more than I’ve seen him love anything.” (Not that he’s loved much of anything in the past).

A.J. finally looked up at him, eyes filled with tears, lip quivering a bit. “But he hates Oscar!”

“Gabriel does not hate Oscar.”

“Yes he does! He said demons weren’t cool and it’s better to be an angel or even a human and Oscar’s a demon and he hates him! And he’ll hate me too!” The tears fell from her eyes, drops of them rolling down her cheeks as her nose turned red.

Aziraphale took a deep breath and reached out. Thankfully A.J. was amenable, crawling over into his lap, curling up to his chest as he held her. “Gabriel loves both of you,” he told her. “There is no doubt in my mind of that. Nothing either of you could do or be will change that.”

A.J. shook her head and buried it in Aziraphale’s shoulder. “He hates demons,” she mumbled. “He hates Pops and he hates Oscar and he’ll hate me too.”

“Gabriel would not be here if he hated demons,” Aziraphale said. Granted, Gabriel _did_ hate demons, but he knew that there was a difference between actual demons and Crowley. And now Oscar. “You and Oscar wouldn’t exist if he hated demons.”

A.J. sniffed, her sobs calming slightly. “I don’t believe you.”

Aziraphale squeezed her close and kissed her head. “I know. It’s hard to see it sometimes. But he truly does love you. And Oscar and Crowley. I can feel it.”

“Cause angels can feel love,” A.J. said.

“Exactly,” Aziraphale said. “And I can feel his love for you all every day.”

A.J. sniffed again and pulled her head up, rubbing her nose on the back of her sleeve. “Maybe if I’m an angel I could feel it too.”

Aziraphale nodded. “And if you are a demon then I know that his love won’t change. Not even a little bit.”

A.J. sighed and wiped her face clean with her palms. “Dad?” she asked, slowly. “Should I be worried about Oscar?”

Aziraphale smiled softly. “No, I think it’s going to be okay now. It’s a bit difficult to go from demon form back to human,” he explained. “Just keep in mind that if you ever see him as a snake to let one of us know, and be very gentle with him, okay?”

A.J. nodded. “Being able to turn into a snake sounds cool, but being stuck as one doesn’t.” She took a deep breath and rubbed at her eyes again. “Thanks, dad. Do you think Oscar wants to play?”

“I think you could go ask him,” Aziraphale said.

A.J. nodded. She gave Aziraphale a hug and then climbed off his lap, wiping down her face again before heading back downstairs with Aziraphale right behind her. 

Oscar was now in Gabriel’s lap on the couch, curled up against him as his and A.J.’s favorite show played softly on the T.V. He watched it silently, his eyes still wet but no more tears, thankfully. Crowley was spread out next to them, slumped halfway down the cushion, looking haunted. 

At least Aziraphale hoped that seeing Gabriel comforting Oscar would help convince A.J. of his love. 

“Hey, Oscar,” A.J. said. She leaned over the arm of the couch, capturing his attention. “Do you want to come play? We still have the block castle to finish constructing.”

Oscar stared at her for a moment, then nodded slightly. She smiled. Gabriel sat forward, letting him down. He watched, tense, as Oscar followed A.J. upstairs.

“He’ll be fine,” Aziraphale assured him.

As if snapping out of a dream, Crowley shook his head and jumped to his feet. Aziraphale held out a hand, pressing it to his chest and stopping him from chasing after the twins. “He’s fine,” he repeated.

Crowley stared at him with those eyes that look like they’ve seen a ghost. “I didn’t think,” he whispered. “When I said we should have kids,” he shook his head, “I didn’t think.”

Aziraphale moved his hand up, cupping the side of Crowley’s face. He desperately needed to talk to Gabriel about what he had said to A.J. outside, but his first priority was making sure Crowley was okay. 

“My dear,” Aziraphale said. “It’s okay. He’s okay.”

Crowley nodded slowly and sat back down, staring at the T.V. Gabriel reached out and grabbed his hand. 

“I didn’t want this,” Crowley said. “Fuck.” He balled his other hand into a fist and held Gabriel’s tightly, knuckles turning white. “Did you see how scared he was?” He shook his head again. “It’s all my fucking fault.”

Aziraphale sat down on the other side of him, arm wrapped over his shoulders. “It is not your fault.”

“I could have told them!” Crowley argued. “If I was thinking I could have told them what it was like so it wouldn’t be such a damn surprise!”

“None of us were thinking about it,” Aziraphale assured him. 

“Yeah well neither of you are the reason he had to go through it at all.”

Aziraphale turned so he could pull Crowley into a proper hug, his arm stretching as Gabriel continued to hold his hand. “You are not to blame,” he said, holding him tight as if he could force the truth of his words into Crowley. “Children are quite resilient. And I don’t know if you’ve ever met Oscar but he is stronger than all of us. He’s going to be just fine.”

Crowley just nodded. The apple certainly doesn’t fall far from the tree.

Aziraphale kissed the top of Crowley’s head and looked over at Gabriel. He didn’t want to have this conversation around Crowley, but it needed to be had and it needed to be had sooner rather than later.

“Gabriel,” he said, treading carefully. “What did you say to A.J. while you two were outside?”

Gabriel looked at him with a face that suggested he knew he was in some kind of trouble. “I told her that Oscar was the snake. Was I not supposed to?”

“No that’s fine,” Aziraphale said. “What else did you tell her?”

Gabriel shook his head. “Not much.”

Aziraphale sighed. Clearly he said much for A.J. to get the impression that she did. Kids tend to over-exaggerate situations (especially Crowley’s kids), but there’s usually a bit of truth to it. “Well whatever you did say seemed to make her think you hate Oscar,” Aziraphale said. 

At this Crowley’s head popped up, looking over at Gabriel, offended on Oscar’s behalf. Which was why Aziraphale didn’t want him here for this conversation.

“I don’t!” Gabriel said, his head shaking, fear creeping into his eyes. Things had been going so well. And now this. 

“I know you don’t,” Aziraphale assured him. Because he could feel it. But Crowley just kept staring at him. The whole thing was really turning into quite a mess.

There was a tense moment where Crowley and Gabriel just stared at each other. 

“Please believe me,” Gabriel said, just as Aziraphale was thinking about breaking out a game or something just to loosen the tension.

“What did you say?” Crowley demanded. “What did you tell her?”

Aziraphale, also, was curious. But he wouldn’t have been so harsh with his words. Gabriel didn’t say anything. His eyebrows furrowed, squinting in confusion.

“You aren’t running away,” Crowley growled. He tried to get up, to move and position himself somewhere more powerful, somewhere intimidating. But Aziraphale knew he was just trying to not hate himself by hating someone else, and he refused to let go, refused to let this situation get more out of hand.

“She _wanted_ to be a demon,” Gabriel explained. Resulting to his past tendency to have blind faith that every decision of his was absolute truth and righteousness. Sometimes it felt like Aziraphale had four children instead of two. “I simply told her being an angel was better.”

“So what?” Crowley asked, struggling against Aziraphale’s hold. “You think you’re better than me?”

Gabriel blinked, but without skipping a beat said, “Yes.”

“That’s it!” Crowley said, properly working on wiggling his way out of Aziraphale’s grasp. “Let me go, angel. I’m gonna rip his stupid head off.”

“No you aren’t,” Aziraphale told him, rolling his eyes. It wasn’t the first fight they had gotten into over the years. Playful banter was a part of their relationship, and it often had a tendency to turn into a real argument. But that was because they were both larger-than-life personalities. Once they calmed down a bit they were usually able to come to an agreement on things. 

Even if this particular argument was a little more than surface level tension.

“You couldn’t even if you tried,” Gabriel informed Crowley. Making him growl a bit. 

Aziraphale had thought a lot about Gabriel’s first kiss with both of them, of how it had been in an effort to get them to stop yelling at him. Sometimes Aziraphale wished all arguments could end in such a fashion.

“Why not?” Crowley pushed at Aziraphale’s arms, but hadn’t gone so far yet as to claw at them. “Because you’re a high and mighty angel and I’m just a lowly demon?”

“Obviously,” Gabriel said. 

Aziraphale sighed and let Crowley go. Gabriel had brought this on himself. There was no saving him from that. Crowley was on top of him in an instant, and then they were both on the floor. Aziraphale kept a close eye on them. As long as they weren’t breaking anything, or each other, getting their frustrations out was probably a good thing. 

They wrestled for dominance, flipping and rolling the other over in an attempt to pin one down. Aziraphale did not approve of violence, of course, but no two beings were better suited for it. And they did put on quite a show.

“Stop it!”

It was a voice that none of them had heard, but instantly recognized. Crowley and Gabriel stopped fighting, Crowley half on top of Gabriel, mid-way through a flip. All three of them stared at the steps.

Oscar, who had spoken, was standing on the landing, crying. A.J. was on the step above him, her arms crossed, scowling at them as if she was the parent. There was a moment of stunned panic. How long had they been there? How much did they hear?

Then Oscar sat down and buried his face in his hands. They had been there too long. They had heard too much.

Aziraphale was up in an instant, crossing over to Oscar as Crowley and Gabriel untangled themselves. He gathered Oscar in his arms, pulling him up and holding him close. A.J. gave him a pointed look that said ‘I told you so’. Aziraphale turned a stern glare to his other two children.

“You two are going to go upstairs. You are going to lock ourselves in our room and you may only come out when you are done being idiots.”

Crowley and Gabriel started to argue, but Aziraphale gave them no room, stepping to the side, holding Oscar close with one arm, pointing up with the other. They both grumbled a bit and followed orders. 

It could be years.

-

Crowley sat on one side of the bed, arms crossed, staring at his shoes. He felt the mattress shift as Gabriel sat on the other side. He had called Gabriel when Oscar went missing that morning because he knew Gabriel could help. And he had. It had been nice to have him there, calm, while Crowley panicked. But now Crowley wished he hadn’t called him. 

“I don’t hate Oscar,” Gabriel said, filling the silent void between them. The bed shifted, Gabriel turning, his voice more clear when he spoke again. “I love him.”

Crowley wanted to be mean but they would never get out of this room if he was. “Yeah. I know.”

There was another moment of silence.

“I love you,” Gabriel said.

Crowley groaned because that wasn’t fair. The bed moved again, jiggling as Gabriel climbed over, instead of just getting up and walking around like a normal person. 

“Even though I’m a lowly demon?” Crowley asked, putting as much spite into his words as he could. 

“Yes,” Gabriel replied- no beat skipped, not even an eye blinked.

Crowley rolled his eyes. He looked over his shoulder at Gabriel, kneeling behind him. “But I’m not a lowly demon, you idiot.”

Gabriel’s mouth opened slightly, then he nodded. It was another moment of silence. “I’m sorry,” he said. 

Crowley’s body deflated, too worried about Oscar to be mad anymore. Too worried about everything to be mad anymore. He took a deep breath. “It’s alright. I know.”

“I just didn’t want her to think it was cool,” Gabriel said. 

“You just want her to be an angel ‘cause she’s yours,” Crowley accused. Gabriel may make a good show of it, but Crowley could tell he cared more about _his_ child than Oscar. 

“They’re both mine,” Gabriel said, repeating back what has been told to him. “They’re both all of ours equally.”

Crowley didn’t blame him. It was hard not to be partial with genetics. Aziraphale had surpassed it, but that’s because he’s Aziraphale. He’s better than anyone. Gabriel was still learning.

“So you’re saying you would feel no differently if A.J. was a demon?” Crowley asked. 

“Of course,” Gabriel said. He moved forward more, sitting on the edge next to Crowley. “I care about them both. I want them both to be angels if I could make it so.”

Crowley scoffed. “Well, hate to break it to ya, but you got one anyway.”

“I know.” Gabriel looked down at his hands. He leaned over, grabbing Crowley’s in them. “I have two demons,” he announced, looking at Crowley’s eyes. “And the fact is just a fact. It does not change how I feel about them.”

Crowley bit the inside of his cheek. “You’d rather we weren’t,” he said. He wasn’t done being upset and Gabriel had to have been taking lessons from Aziraphale on the right things to say. 

“True. But there are a lot of things I’d rather weren’t that I can’t change.”

Crowley groaned and leaned his head back. “I’m better than you,” he mumbled.

A pause.

“Okay.”

-

After they were done being idiots (at least for the moment) they let themselves out and went downstairs to check on things. A.J. was in the living room, sitting at the coffee table and drawing. She looked at them with a glare. 

Oscar was sitting on the island, legs hanging over the edge. He was holding a glass of juice and watching as Aziraphale busied around the kitchen, getting dinner ready. He looked at them as they came close. His face wavered. 

“So are you done being idiots or what?” A.J. asked, standing up. 

“Yes,” Gabriel told her. He swallowed. “We should probably talk.” He gestured to the kitchen and A.J. sat down in one of the stools. 

Gabriel followed after her, sitting in the other seat, looking across at Oscar, who stared at him. Thankfully he wasn’t crying anymore. Gabriel looked at Aziraphale and Crowley but neither of them gave him any advice. Nearly nine years and he still didn’t know how to talk to his children; clearly by way of the conversation that took place earlier with A.J.

He looked at Oscar first. “I love you, Oscar,” he said. “And no matter what I always will.” He looked over at A.J. “And that goes for you too, okay?”

They both nodded but it didn’t seem like the kind of nod that meant they really understood or believed him. He looked to Aziraphale and Crowley for advice. But Aziraphale’s advice was telling the children to go wash up for dinner, letting them leave the conversation.

“I think that’s something you have to prove with your actions,” Aziraphale explained. “Not your words.”

“But how?”

“Just keep being the best parent you can be,” Aziraphale offered. “They’re smart. They’ll figure it out.”

Gabriel didn’t want to wait. He wanted them to figure it out now. But it had been a long day. And he figured one of the first things he could offer as proof was staying for dinner, some family time, and bed. He would just have to make the time.

Because human, angel, or demon, his family deserved it.


	2. cute art

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> LOOK AT THESE BABY BEANS

Wonderful art of the twins made by the loveld Arka<3 <3 <3\. Find her on tumblr [here](https://arkafr.tumblr.com/post/190216343936/)


End file.
